Fluid Fuel Point Reactor

Kinetics Equation Modeling for

MSR in MELCOR

The 13 th Meeting of the European MELCOR and MACCS User Group

April 27-29, 2021

PRESENTED BY

B r a d l e y B e e n y, S a n d i a N a t i o n a l L a b o r a t o r i e s

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission

laboratory managed and operated by National
Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia,
LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell
International Inc., for the U.S. Department of
Energy’s National Nuclear Security
Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.
2 Overview

Delayed neutrons and reactor kinetics

Point reactor kinetics equations

◦ Formulations (standard and fluid)
◦ Initialization (fluid)
◦ “Perfect control system” model (fluid)
◦ Auxiliary quantities

Input structures for fluid-fuel reactors and MSRE input model

Validation against ORNL MSRE zero-power flow coast-down experiment

Conclusions
3 Delayed Neutrons and Reactor Kinetics

Time-dependent neutron population (kinetics) plus system feedback mechanisms (dynamics)

Delayed neutron (DN) emission from DN precursor (DNP) decay is a primary governor of dynamic response
• Solid fuel –DNP’s stay and hence DN’s contribute to economy

• Fluid fuel – DNP’s move (ex-core) and lost DN’s impact economy

DNP grouping helps with analyses (group decay, abundance)

Process of DNP advection with flowing fuel is DNP “drift”

Cannot neglect the kinetic/dynamic implications of DNP “drift”

4 Standard Point Reactor Kinetics Equations

Textbook Six DNP group PRKE’s

6
𝑑𝑃 𝜌−𝛽
= 𝑃 + ෍ 𝜆𝑖 𝑌𝑖 + 𝑆0
𝑑𝑡 𝛬
𝑖=1

𝑑𝑌𝑖 𝛽𝑖
= 𝑃 − 𝜆𝑖 𝐶𝑖 , 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖 = 1 … 6
𝑑𝑡 𝛬

DNP drift
◦ Leads to lower effective DN fraction,
◦ Looks like a negative reactivity insertion, and
◦ Introduces a “reactivity bias” barrier to criticality for a given flow

Relatively lower DN emission in core as core DNP inventory decreases

Relatively higher DN emission in core as core DNP inventory increases
Fuel flow (e.g. as driven by fuel pump) has direct reactivity implications
5 Fluid Fuel Point Reactor Kinetics Equations – Formulation

A B C
A – In-Vessel DNP gain by fission
B – In-Vessel DNP loss by decay, flow
D E C – In-Vessel DNP gain by Ex-Vessel DNP flow
D – Ex-Vessel DNP gain by In-Vessel DNP flow
E – Ex-Vessel DNP loss by decay, flow
6 Fluid Fuel Point Reactor Kinetics Equations – Steady State Initialization

Assume critical at some power and steady flow

Assume no feedback or control reactivity
Time derivatives of dependent variables are zero (steady)

Given P0, derive initial values for:

◦ All DNP variables by cohort
◦ Bias reactivity
◦ Effective DN fraction

These are initial conditions for FFPRKE model

7 Fluid Fuel Point Reactor Kinetics Equations – “Perfect” Control System
8 Fluid Fuel Point Reactor Kinetics Equations – Auxiliary Quantities

Gross characteristics of core and loop flow are leveraged in FFPRKE source terms to describe drift
◦ Transit times approximate the time required for flow to traverse the core and the balance of the loop
◦ Fluid volumes of the entire core and loop

“core” quantities consist of a sum over all CV’s identified as belonging to the core

“loop” quantities consist of a sum over all CV’s identified as belonging to the balance
of the flow loop (ex-core)

Resort to control volume averaged notions of flow path phasic (pool) flows
9 Fluid Fuel Reactor Input Structures

Fluid fueled “cores” are affected in MELCOR without resorting to the COR package (all through CVH)
◦ Designate the “core” and “loop” CV types to associate CV definitions with the primary loop
◦ Designate a power distribution for “core” CVs
◦ Configure PKM parameters (timing, feedback, external reactivity, etc.)
10 MSRE Input Model
11 ORNL MSRE Zero-Power Flow Coast-Down Experimental Benchmark

Null transient was checked

◦ Steady-state MSRE model built, FFPRKE’s start governing power at some problem time given initial power
◦ Verify steady power level (zero reactivity) and a bias reactivity consistent with experimental value
◦ Good test of input structures, data read/write, output plots, etc.

Zero-power fuel pump coast-down

*Fuel circulation worth:

0.212 +/- 0.004 δK/K
12 ORNL MSRE Zero-Power Flow Coast-Down Experimental Benchmark

Validation of FFPRKE predictions against experimental data and a separate computer code
13 Conclusions

To facilitate MELCOR modeling of MSRs, a fluid fuel point reactor kinetics equation model was developed and
integrated

An approach consistent with the systems-level MELCOR modeling philosophy was taken

Validation was performed against experimental data from ORNL MSRE

Brad - babeeny@sandia.gov, Larry - llhumph@sandia.gov